


Insights and views

by Soleera



Series: Āctiōnēs secundum fideī [3]
Category: 2770 ab urbe condita - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:48:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27155473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soleera/pseuds/Soleera
Summary: Talia doesn't always have it easy, but at least Ufa tries to help. Both of them think their owners should have taken over the wedding planning months ago.
Series: Āctiōnēs secundum fideī [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938643
Comments: 22
Kudos: 12
Collections: 2770 ab urbe condita - the collected fiction





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The very next day after 'Inattention'

Insights and views

She was ripped from a peaceful slumber through a not really gentle shove to her shoulder and Talia blinked at the person next to her bed. The woman, at least twice as old as her, scrunched her face up, obviously angry at something and the twelve-year-old girl swallowed slightly, as she realised who had woken her. Surprisingly enough the other slave, Kara, just turned around and vanished out of the dormitory for the female household staff.

Talia breathed a sigh of relief. The woman had never liked her and it was doubtful that she ever would. As far as the young maid knew were was nothing she could do about it though and Kara’s anger wasn’t aimed at Talia herself. Not really. Kara was just disappointed that Aurelia after she freed her old nursemaid and helped her settle in a nice little home somewhere on a Greek island, didn’t choose Kara herself for the position as a personal maid. Instead, the patrician lady had gone out and purchased Talia.

At first, Talia had tried to appease the other slave. She had offered help, smiles, anything that a ten-year-old could think of, but after some weeks she figured out that the woman didn’t want to like her. She had given up then and focussed her energy on the other slaves in the household who were far nicer and willing to help her.

And she needed their help: The house wasn’t that big, but not small either and Talia had required some time to learn where everything was kept and which of all the household chores had to be done when. Now, of course, she could navigate the whole domus with her eyes closed and half asleep.

That was a good thing, because right now, even after she splashed cold water to her face and brushed her teeth she didn’t felt entirely awake. She yawned widely while she choose her tunic for the day and plaited her hair and she was still rubbing her eyes as she trudged the downstairs. As she walked the main part of the house in the direction of her mistress’ room, taking a wicker basket from a cupboard while she walked past the utility room.

Somewhere out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Ufa, Master Publius slave, who gave her a strange and somehow warning look, but she ignored him for the time being and slipped into Aurelia’s room. She would only get her breakfast after she had picked up the clothes of yesterday, but she could manage this task half asleep.

Her brain at least supplied the girl to be silent as possible, because her domina wouldn’t be the only one she would disturb this morning and she had no idea how the betrothed of her mistress would react to any slipup in Talia’s behaviour. They had never met in the house of Aurelia’s grandmother before.

While she picked the carelessly discarded clothes from the floor and throw them in the basket Talia’s eyes wandered to the bed. Seeing that it was empty she halted in her movements and without even thinking she looked, nearly automatically to the open door of the ensuite bathroom.

The twelve-year-old girl nearly dropped the basket, as she realised that she there was no need to be silent since her domina and her guest were not only awake but rather occupied with each other and not because they were taking a shower. For a short moment, the girl asked herself if it wasn’t rather uncomfortable for the couple – they there on the bathroom floor after all. At least Publius had the thick bathroom rug to lie on, but Aurelia had her knees on the cold floor.

Talia blushed deeply as she suddenly understood what other girls in the house were talking about when they said they wanted to ride this or that man. She _also_ realised that she shouldn’t be standing here and watching free people fucking each other.

She turned on her heels and nearly run from the room, but before she could actually leave it occurred to her, that _‘my domina is having sex in her bathroom’_ was no excuse for not picking up all the dirty laundry.

She finished her task a quickly as humanely possible, while she hummed loudly in her head in the hope to tune out the moans and other sounds currently coming from the bathroom. Then she made a very hasty retreat, clutching the basket with both hands, while her face felt literally on fire. She nearly stumbled into Ufa, when she left the room, who gazed down on her pityingly.

“They… Uhm…” she began but didn’t really know how to finish the sentence.

Ufa just sighed.

“They are screwing each other on a flat surface they found?” he asked and Talia nodded while blushing even more.

“Hopefully not in the shower or on the sink again. Last time they tried this the mistress nearly broke her arm”, he commented before he gave her another apologetic look. “I tried to warn you, by the way.”

“I… yes… Uhm… Sorry?” she stuttered and Ufa snorted.

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault our owners can’t keep their hands from each other. But then again, one could consider us two very lucky slaves. If it stays like that they will show little interest in either of us. Just, be a little bit more aware of your surroundings in the future, yes?”

Talia dropped her head and nodded before she shuffled off and tried to get the pictures out of her head. She couldn't. Suddenly she was relieved beyond measure that slaves were required to keep their eyes down. She didn’t really know how to look either Aurelia or Publius in the face, ever again.

She doubted that they would be embarrassed – but Talia was. Still, she knew about the common opinion of the free people that you couldn’t embarrass a slave.

She sighed and brought the basket to the utility room, where the clothes could be washed and ironed, before she made her way to the slaves dining room, right next to the kitchen. Without much thought she took a seat, her gaze fixed on the table.

“Why are you blushing like a cherry?”

Kara eyed her curiously and Talia felt her face heating up again. Thankfully she didn’t have to answer, as Ufa took the seat right between the two female slaves and blocked the view of the older woman.

“Leave her alone”, he said and Kara snorted.

“I don’t take orders from you. You are only the personal slave of Mistress Aurelia’s fiancée and you are a guest in this house, as is your master.”

“True”, Ufa answered “But if I tell my dominus that you pester the girl constantly, he will probably worry that Talia can’t serve your young domina to her full capacity and tell Aurelia that much. And she will take action, don’t you agree?”

Kara closed her mouth and shoot him a nasty look, while one or two other slaves at the table snickered quietly. Talia meanwhile gave the man a thankful smile. She didn’t know him that well, but so far he had been kind to her, even if he didn’t need to.

On the other hand, Talia knew for sure that Aurelia didn’t plan to take anybody from this household into her own, except her maid. Her mistress hadn't really explained why, but Talia suspected it was for the same reason why she bought her own maid instead of just promoting Kara. Aurelia complained often enough about the nosiness of her grandmother and feared perhaps that a slave trained by the old woman would spy on her. Something that was entirely possible, if you asked Talia.

It was also clear that Publius would bring Ufa with him into the marriage. It wasn’t such a bad idea to look out for fellow slave, especially if you knew that you would soon serve alongside each other.

She mulled that thought over while she ate but had to cut her musings short than the intercom chimed. Talia was a little bit envious of Ufa, who not only managed to stand up faster than her but also with far more grace as she could ever muster. As she followed him into the main part of the house she wondered how long it would take her to be so fluent in her movements, regardless of what she was doing.

 _Not very soon_ , she thought and nearly sighed, while she remembered her recent growth spurt and that nothing seemed right sometimes.

Her suddenly unclean skin annoyed her and she wasn’t sure what she should think about her suddenly not so flat chest, the growth of hair in strange places or how much weight she gained in the span of only some months - the last thing was troubling and she thought it could only be unhealthy. But apparently, it was something normal that happened to all girls around her age.

Aurelia always said it would pass. That everybody had to go through this thing what was called puberty. Talia didn’t quite believe her, but couldn’t say so. The other female slaves agreed with her domina. Talia didn’t trust their words either. Even Mistress Cinna told her she shouldn’t despair. Talia was inclined to belief at least her, but couldn’t quite manage it.  
But she envied them all their womanly shaped figures and hoped that she would be at least half as pretty as any of them – not something to happen likely, at least if you asked Talia herself. Not that any of this mattered right now.

While Ufa and she crossed through the atrium Talia remembered to take the newest issue of _Ōrnātus_ from a small side table - Aurelia wasn’t really interested in most of the articles: They were centred on fashion, how to get the best sex imaginable and how to look spotless at any given time. But her domina loved the gossip stories. Talia wasn’t sure why – the leading article from last month and even the current one where about an apparently very scandalous divorce of a prominent and very rich senator. But if it pleased her domina to read such things, she was hardly one to question it.

Still, she looked at the two major headlines again – _Senator M. Aemilius Flavianus: Everything revealed! What really lead to the end of his marriage!_ – and – _Why women all over the Serene Empire voted for G. Vitruvius Mellitus Caesar Augustus as sexiest bachelor alive! And rightfully so!_ – before she shook her head inwardly and entered her mistress room at Ufa's side.

It seemed Publius and Aurelia had managed to take a shower after all since they were both clad in towels and had wet hair. Talia darted immediately in the direction of her mistress, who was already seated before her big dressing table, while she tried to keep her eyes down as she had to get past Publius.

“Your girl is still shy, isn’t she?”

Aurelia only shrugged her shoulders and mumbled: “Normally, not so much” before she gave Talia a smile, as the young slave handed her the magazine she was still clutching. The girl answered the gesture with a timid smile of her own before she began with the tedious task of drying Aurelia's dark-brown long locks. Her mistress began thumbing through the magazine while Talia worked.

Predictable, Aurelia gave most of the articles not more than one glance but stopped at the double-page containing the divorce of the Senator.

“Damn it all. Poor Marcia. And poor Marcus, too”, she said.

“The Aemilii?” Publius asked and Aurelia turned her head in his direction – Talia stopped with what she was doing immediately: Otherwise she would have ripped some hair from her dominas head.

“Yes. Who else?”

Publius shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe you met somebody new while I wasn’t here - the green tunic, Ufa, I will wear the blue one in the evening.”

“Yes, Master.”

Aurelia just sighed and got back to her reading, while Talia got hold of her mistress’ hair again. Fortunately, her domina had enough sense to keep still most of the time while she was working and Talia was thankful for that, too.

 _All in all_ , the girl thought, _I have it pretty easy._

And that was not an exaggeration, at least not in Talia’s eyes. She got enough food, lived in a pretty home and her mistress seldom raised her voice in anger. And so far Aurelia had never slapped or kicked her. She even got some pretty tunics to dress in and lessons to improve her reading and writing. How many slaves her age could say that?

If she managed to learn not to blush over everything her mistress was doing with Master Publius she would be fine in the future – maybe Ufa could give her some pointers on how to control this habit. Or maybe she should really _always_ be aware of her surroundings.

Talia suppressed a shocked sound as Publius stood suddenly beside her, looking at her thoughtfully. The twelve-year-old gaped at him and remembered her manners after a second. She quickly lowered her eyes and fixed her gaze at the hem of his tunic.

“What do you teach the girl?”

Aurelia looked bewildered at her fiancé and frowned, as she asked: “What do you mean?”

Talia couldn’t see how her Master rolled his eyes – and he was her Master, wasn’t he? He would _marry_ her mistress! – but she could hear it in his voice when he answered.

“I’m assuming she learns something besides being your maid. She _can_ read and write, can’t she?”

The girl herself only thought that he could have asked her these questions directly, but free people had the tendency to talk about slaves as if they weren’t in the same room with them.

“Of course she can read and write!” Aurelia said with a clearly insulted tone in her voice. “She isn’t _dumb_.”

 _Thank you, mistress_ , Talia thought. _But you are still talking over my head._

She couldn’t say this aloud, even if she wanted to, of course. But she didn’t wish she could - at least not enough to risk punishment for speaking out of turn.

“She has lessons to upskill her writing and reading. And some for basic arithmetic” Aurelia finally answered. “And she has access to a tabula and a computer – restricted of course. Maybe I should sign her up for some general lessons in history, geography and such things.”

Talia nearly looked up, when she heard this but could contain herself – but only barely. She would love to learn things that were common knowledge for every free child!

“She should learn something about economics. How a household runs. If I understood you right you don’t plan to bring any other slave from this house – that will leave us with Ufa and Talia as our senior slaves”, Publius said and finally stepped away, so the girl could finish her work.

So far Talia had managed to dry Aurelia’s hair, but it still needed to be plaited and pinned up - at least some of it. The younger generation of roman woman had started to favour simpler hairstyles then the ones their mothers wore – a trend which spread quickly.

“We don’t even have a house, Publius. Juno, we don’t even have a date for the wedding” Aurelia sighed.

“Why do think I’m here?”

“To shag me on every flat surface?”

“As fun as that sounds, I do think we should have some conversations about our upcoming future. Unless of course, you want to leave all these decisions to your gran and my mother?”

Aurelia turned her head – _again_ and very much to Talia’s dismay – and scrunched her nose up before she looked at Ufa. “Iēntāculum in the garden. Tell Rullus I want shade where we sit. We will probably be there for some time and I don’t favour a sunburn.”

Ufa bowed his head and said “Yes, domina”, before he vanished.

“You are aware” Publius began, clearly amused “That he is actually mine, do you?”

“Not anymore, honey” Aurelia smiled sweetly at him. “Didn’t you realize you gave me command over everything you're owning the moment you signed the betrothal contract?”

Publius only snorted while Talia tried to hide her smile.


	2. Chapter 2

“This is madness. How many lists does one need for one single event?”

Iēntāculum went off without a hitch, but Ufa had known it wouldn’t stay this way. He could hope for it, sure, but hope was a fickle thing and nothing a slave should cling to, anyway. So he entertained the thought of a peaceful day, without believing it would actually happen.

He had been right about that. As soon as Publius and Aurelia started to talk about the wedding and began going over the lists sent to them weeks if not months ago, the mood dropped. None of them had put much thought into the event itself it seemed and they were not really pleased with the planning so far. 

Ufa remembered how annoyed he had been with his master, because Publius put the whole thing off for so long, even if he as a slave couldn’t really say so. But he knew he wasn’t the only one who had his doubts about the method of the planning itself.

He remembered a conversation between Publius and Master Drusus more than a year ago, in which the older citizen asked explicitly: “Are you _sure_ you want to leave this to your mother?”

A good and warranted question, if you asked Ufa – not that anyone would. And of course, Master Publius had answered: “There will be time enough to sort everything through, when I’m back from India, pater. Until then māter can’t really do much.”

It seemed that the couple had started to realize, that Aufida Gracia and Helena Terentia could do _a lot_ in _very_ little time. They also began to understand there was only a year for the planning left – and they would need the time to get at least some things they wanted. Ufa just wished he could have said something – or that he would get a chance to air his frustration from time to time.

There were other slaves in the legion his master was serving, but Ufa had never got close to any of them and now it wasn’t really worth the effort anymore. He could speak with his Master, of course – if he was careful about how he phrased things. But this wasn’t the same as talking to another slave who had lived with him under the same roof – like Willow, Icarus or even Petrus, the half-deaf old man.

Ufa guessed it was a good thing he got along with Mistress Aurelia’s girl. Talia was a sweet thing, easy to like and if you looked past her overwhelming shyness, pretty smart. She would make it far if Aurelia gave her the right education. Something Ufa believed she would if somebody pointed it out to her. As far as he could tell the domina liked the girl and wanted her to be well and happy.

Still, a twelve-year-old girl wasn’t the best conversational partner and Ufa wasn’t really keen to have a long chat with anybody else in this house. Rullus was nice enough, but the steward of Aurelia’s grandmother. The slaves in this household obeyed the young woman’s orders because Aufidia told them so - and because Rullus made sure nobody had any leeway in this. Also, Ufa was sure, that at least this Kara spied on the young domina.

A snap of Publius fingers brought him out of his thoughts and he hurriedly handed his Master the tabula, he was currently holding up, so the couple could look at the screen together. Since the day was as warm as someone could expect at late summer, the couple had changed their sitting location in the garden to one in the ātrium, their slaves in tow.

Now, Publius was sitting on one of the couches with Aurelia at his side, her legs draped over one of his thighs, while Talia knelt on a cushion next to the sofa and Ufa stood before the two citizens. 

“Let’s start our own list”, Publius murmured, while he tipped at something on the screen before he handed the tabula back to Ufa. “About things we _really_ need.”

“A day. A guest list. A place for the whole spectacle to take place”, Aurelia ticked her fingers off, while Ufa started to write.

Talia meanwhile did the same on her own tabula and Ufa nodded approvingly. Really, a smart girl. Very attentive – he made a mental note to point it out to Publius sometime in the future. Good behaviour needed to be acknowledged, _especially_ if a slave was young.

“Fine” Publius continued. “A date: Not before June 23rd. If everything goes well, I will be honourably discharged by then and have my feet solidly on Rome’s soil again.”

“Not September” Aurelia pointed out. “I don’t want to celebrate my wedding in the same month as my birthday. Sometime after it?”

“Let’s say not before October. Like this we will have at least three months to search for a house – something my father will be grateful for, I think, if he doesn’t have to host the whole event in his domus.”

“I think he would do it if we don’t find anything.”

_He would_ , Ufa thought, _but it would still be better if you have something of your own by then._

“So, October. The whole nuisance with the unlucky days can be dealt with later. As soon as I have the final confirmation about my discharge I mail you and you can secure the date with the priests of Juno.”

Aurelia nodded before she muttered: “Cinna knows some of them – don’t ask why, but she does.”

“Maybe because she is a married woman and a mother?”

“No, really? You should have told me sooner, it would have made some things so much easier.”

“Don’t get sarcastic with me, Auri. I’m not the only one responsible for this mess”, Publius pointed out and Aurelia sighed heavily.

“I know”, she admitted. “And now Cinna gets a chance to say: I told you so. She offered her help and I was dumb enough to decline.” 

Publius patted her knee in a show of compassion. “If it helps, I don’t think Cinna is the kind of person who points former wrong decisions out. At least not in words. Now back to planning: Guestlist?”

“Not too many.”

Ufa suppressed an eye roll. Publius, however, had the freedom to do so and took the opportunity.

“That isn’t helpful, Auri.’Not too many' aren’t even a number.”

Aurelia gave her betrothed a displeased look before she answered: “Fine. Not more when… fifteen free people, with the addition of their slaves – Talia. Make a new list of persons who have to be at the wedding.”

The girl answered immediately with “Yes, domina” before she tipped something on her tabula and waited obediently with the stylus hovering over the display.

Aurelia meanwhile ticked her fingers off again. “My grandmother, Cinna, Titus, their children.”

“My father, my sister, my mother. Two friends from the military academy, if they are in Rome at that time” Publius added.

“Iason – he is the big boss of Imperial Security. Marcia Aemilia, of course, has to be there. Oh, and her father. Senator Aemilius was friends with my father, I can’t leave him out.”

“Fine. Then I would add my mother’s sister and sadly, her husband. And my cousins, who will all come and the only one enjoying the invitation will be Licinus.”

“He is your youngest cousin, isn’t he?”

Publius nodded, his face serious. “Yes. The only smart one from this family, besides my aunt. I still don’t understand how she managed to stay married to my uncle for such a long time. The man is unbearable.”

Aurelia mimicked his gesture from before and patted his arm. “You just can’t decide to whom you are related. So that makes… Talia?”

“Sixteen adults and two children, Mistress. Or eighteen citizens.”

Aurelia threw her head against the headrest of the couch with a groan. “Damn. Why do I have the feeling we will add _more_ to this list?”

“Because we have only the people who will be present for the vows. Now we need to add the guests to the party in our house…”

“Which we aren’t even possessing yet, or even started looking for” Aurelia interjected.

“…and who will be staying until the wee hours of the morning.”

Talia and Ufa shared a careful look and he nearly snorted in amusement. It seemed like the girl was more aware then her owner how much work was lying ahead. Aurelia meanwhile pinched the back of her nose and sighed.

“Fine. So another list of people who are invited to the party. A party somebody needs to organize, in a house that we don’t have and with a household staff which right now only consist of Ufa and Talia.”

Publius looked at her with a frown. “I’m beginning to understand why my father asked me more than once if I’m sure the whole organisation can wait until I’m back from India and if I really want to leave it to my mother.”

Aurelia groaned and nodded. “And I’m beginning to realize why Cinna constantly asks how the planning goes.” 

_What I don’t understand, why you two haven’t thought about it sooner_ , Ufa grumbled in the safety of his mind, while he kept a perfectly straight face.

He looked a little bit surprised to the right corner of his tabula, there a little blinking icon indicated that a document had been sent from a nearby device – his gaze wandered to Talia, who seemed to concentrate on her own tabula but glanced at him before she looked down again.

Ufa opened the document and shortly lifted his eyebrows. Talia had sent him the guest list – and apparently added the attending slaves of the persons she knew in an extra column. Inwardly he nodded approvingly. The girl was not only attentive and smart, but she was also very thorough.

Ufa added some more names to the last column. Of course, they could only assume which slave would be brought by their respective owner, but at least they could guess an approximate number. This would help – after all, slave or master, all of them needed to be in one place, possibly even the same room.

While he worked he glanced every so often at the two citizens, who were still bemoaning their shortsightedness. Truth to be told, Ufa was a little bit surprised about all of this – neither Aurelia nor Publius were normally so lazy and uninterested in an event that would have them as the main attraction, so to speak.

And now they all had to deal with the outcome of this decision. Ufa did not doubt that he would look through _many_ more lists in the next weeks to come. Long, long lists of things I probably had never heard of before. And he had done rather thorough research on what exactly was needed for a wedding as his master made his intentions to marry Aurelia known.

_Maybe I should make another search_ , he thought as he sent the list of things needed under any circumstances, to Talia.

The girl shoots him a quick thankful smile before she focussed her attention on her mistress and his master again. The two citizens were exchanging a rueful look with each other.

“We need help”, Aurelia admitted finally and Ufa breathed inwardly a sigh of pure relief as he saw his master nod in agreement.

“Yes. Cinna?”

Aurelia sighed and answered: “Cinna. Hopefully, she won't give us _that look_."

Publius snorted in disbelief. “You mean the look which tells you she told you it would happen and you should have listened to her?”

The young woman nodded again: “Yes.”

“Well, we kind of deserve it, don’t we?”

“Yes. But don’t tell her this. She always looks so unbearable smug if she is right about something”, Aurelia grumbled, as she cuddled into Publius side, who only snickered as he put an arm around her.

_Well_ , Ufa thought, as he scrolled further truth the lists, old and new alike, _you two could have handled it sooner._

A look to Talia revealed that she thought the same - but neither Ufa nor she would voice these thoughts though. If he had to guess he would say the girl was relieved that her mistress and Master Publius finally took things seriously. Ufa only hoped it wasn’t too late to sort everything out. From all he knew, Aufidia Gracia and Helena Terentia wouldn’t be pleased about the fact that all of their planning was for nothing and would try to get some of their thoughts in.

Ufa was suddenly rather glad that he wouldn’t be the one who had to argue with the two headstrong older citizens.


	3. Chapter 3

Publius and Aurelia spent the whole day on planning their wedding until it was time to get prepared for the cēna in Cinna's house. Ufa was thankful for the break of this tiresome list-writing.

While they got dressed, Aurelia decided to leave Talia at home and insisted the girl shouldn’t stay up this late. Talia wasn’t happy about this decision, but neither she nor Ufa could do anything about it – and Ufa assured her he could manage to look after his master and her mistress.

As it turned out, he wasn't even _needed_ in the triclinium - the house wasn't big and two of the house slaves were serving the four citizens. Ufa kept an eye on Publius in case his master wanted something but soon started thinking about his lot in life since he really hadn't something else to do. Of course he didn’t questioned his status as a slave – he was verna and slavery was all he knew.

But he could puzzle about the situations he found himself in, only because he had simply no choice as to follow his master wherever Publius decided to go. And naturally, he had to bear the consequences of those decisions.

Considering he had been nineteen as he was bought to attend a three years younger spoiled patrician boy, who was far too smart, arrogant and self-assured for his age, it could have been worse. Especially if said patrician boy had the habit to have fun between the legs of every pretty girl in Rome, be it slave or freeborn.

Ufa hadn’t always liked his Master – he could admit to it freely in his own head and Publius knew, what the slave thought about his habits as he was a teenager. Luckily for everybody military service made Publius more mature and now Ufa liked his master far more as he had years ago.

It had been a surprise still, as Publius started to focus his attention on Aurelia nearly four years ago. The young woman wasn’t from the kind of females Ufa’s master normally preferred. Not because she was ugly – she was really beautiful with her dark brown locks, the gentle caramel brown eyes and her petite frame – but she was as smart as Publius himself.

It hadn’t been a total shock Aurelia turned Publius down – she was intelligent enough to see through his charming smile and the honey-sweet words. It was, however, a little bit confusing for Ufa, as his Master decided to double his efforts in winning her over instead of moving on to the next female. As Publius finally reached his goal after eight months of persuading the young woman the slave had already known the two citizens would stay together – and he had been right.

Ufa wasn’t complaining. The young mistress wasn’t a typical patrician girl, but maybe this was the exact reason why Publius wanted to marry her – a decision he hadn’t made on a whim. And their personalities worked well together.

All of these thoughts lead Ufa to one conclusion: It was absolutely not normal for these two citizens to ignore their own wedding or at least the planning around it. Certainly, it wasn't normal for his own master: Publius liked to be in control of things. His suspicions were backed up through the fact, other people had come to the same conclusion – and with other people, Ufa meant Titia Livia Cinna and her husband Titus Livius Cordus.

Cinna's smile had been as spotless as her appearance as she greeted her friends - and this wasn't a hard achievement, since the līberta could wear a burlap sack and would still look stunning. Her husband was an intimidating but not unfriendly man, standing in peaceable silence beside her. And both seemed to be keen to talk about this whole wedding business as soon as the food was consumed.

Ufa liked the couple. Both knew how life worked and both of them were level-headed persons – a description which was normally accurate for Publius and Aurelia as well. Except…

“I can’t understand it.”

Cinna reclined on the dining couch right next to her husband and levelled a look at the patrician couple she called her friends for nearly four years now.

“You are both too clever for such oversight. It’s like you don’t care about this wedding. _At all_.”

 _It certainly looks like it_ , Ufa thought, while he stood silently with his back to one of the walls in Cinna’s triclīnium.

“That’s not true” Aurelia mumbled. “We just hadn’t put too much thought into it.”

“Doesn’t really sound like you, does it?” Titus interjected watching the younger couple with his dark eyes. “I always thought you two like to plan ahead.”

“Maybe we were just occupied with our respective responsibilities – and Aufidia and my mother asked if we needed help.”

Cinna narrowed her eyes and glanced at Aurelia. “I asked you this too. You told me and here I quote: ‘Don’t worry. It’s not possible to make major decisions until Publius has the date for his honourable discharge.’”

“Did I really said this?” Aurelia looked uncomfortable and sighed as Cinna nodded, a frown forming on her beautiful face. “Well, you will know, with your good memory and all.”

Cinna and her husband exchanged _a look_ and Ufa swallowed as he gazed at Publius, who was far more interested in his wineglass then necessary.

 _Oh, you didn’t_ , Ufa thought, suddenly very cross with his owner.

“You two never planned to have this wedding.”

Cinna spoke out what everybody in the room suddenly realised.

“Oh, we want to marry” Aurelia assured her and her friend only snorted.

“No, you want to _elope_. Juno and Jupiter, I thought you two were having a running joke at my expense because I always criticised you for it. But that was your original plan from the beginning, wasn’t it? You wanted to appease your families and as soon as could you wanted to marry with only some witnesses. Without any big feast and everything else.”

Ufa wasn't able to stop himself from scowling at his Master. Unfortunately, Publius saw it and gave the glare right back, before he was distracted by Titus.

“I can understand, why you tried to evade this spectacle, but why did you get your female relatives involved?”

Aurelia sighed again and, after she exchanged a look with her betrothed who just gave her a sign to go on, pulled a sour face.

“We… didn’t want to have a big wedding, but everybody else was expecting it. So we got my grandmother and Publius mother involved because we knew they couldn’t stand each other. It was a rather safe bet, nothing would get done with these two disagreeing over everything. And in the beginning, it worked.”

“It worked more than well” Publius agreed.

Titus snorted and Cinna lifted one of her perfectly sculptured eyebrows. “But?”

“One of the priests of Juno, which is familiar with both of them, intervened. Apparently, she played peacemaker between my gran and Helena Terentia and pointed out they don’t do this for themselves but for us, the happy couple.”

Cinna sighed, pure frustration evident in this single sound.

“They had a truce.” Titus wasn’t even asking a question but looked a little bit worried at his wife, who was pinching the back of her nose.

“And now you have a problem because the planning has come farther when you two expected. And none of it is to your liking” Cinna concluded.

Publius and Aurelia nodded, while Ufa made a frustrated groan in the safety of his head.

“And you need help – our help, because the only other option you have right now is to go to your father, Publius, and he won’t be amused over this.”

“Not really. He would probably tell me he taught me better.”

Cinna gave Publius a stern look. “And he did, I would assume, but you didn’t listen. For two so bright people, you have sometimes the dumbest ideas.”

 _Thank you, for speaking it out_ , Ufa thought and gazed at the woman, who rubbed her temples in exasperation.

She had a tired look on her face and the slave knew she was already planning how to get her friends out of the hole they dug themselves. Ufa was rather thankful for it – and it was good for everyone in this room that the liberta was equally smart as Aurelia. Smarter even, or just simple older and wiser.

Ufa could easily admit he didn’t know much about the woman. Talia had told him, Cinna had been a pleasure-slave and secretary to a senator of the plebeian class and some unfortunate incident had led to Cinna’s scars and the sale to her now-husband. The girl also told him, Cinna was very intelligent and had a very good memory – and of course, she was kind and beautiful and, and, and… Ufa was sure Talia hero-worshipped the līberta and would never say anything bad about her.

But Talia would also never say anything unfavourable about Aurelia and suddenly Ufa was very relieved the girl had stayed at home for the evening – she wouldn’t understand why her mistress played such games and would have been shocked about it.

“You two idiots can be glad, that I like you so much. I should leave you to your problems.”

“But you won’t do it, would you?” Aurelia asked, hope evident in her voice, while Publius looked slightly alarmed.

 _It would be the right thing to decline_ , Ufa thought, _but I wouldn’t mind if you don’t leave me hanging._

Because, when all was said and done, it would be Ufa and Talia who had to deal with the end results – and Ufa wasn’t sure if he even wanted to. Of course, if Publius ordered him, he couldn’t do anything against it, but this didn’t mean he couldn’t make his displeasure known in some way.

“Alright.” Cinna shook her head and looked at her husband who gave her a smile and a nod.

“You better get Appius involved” was his only commentary, before he sipped at his own wine.

Publius looked confused. “Who is Appius?”

“Appius Granius Cato” Cinna answered. “My first master and owner of a company which provides entertainment and catering for any special occasion. Including weddings.”

Ufa frowned for a short moment and he could see his master mirroring these gesture as they exchanged a look. Only moments later the slave remembered himself he was still angry at his master who didn’t even give him a hint on his idiotic plans – which raised the question if Publius didn’t trust him anymore. Ufa was sure he hadn’t done anything to warrant such distrust and which made the whole situation hurtful.

He had always been loyal to his master.

Publius seemed to concentrate on the conversation again and ignored his slave.

“Granius Cato…” he mumbled. “I’m sure… Wait a moment: The senator with the turtle in his garden? _The eccentric?!_ ”

Cinna rolled her eyes. “He isn’t _that_ bad.”

“He has a turtle in his garden, who is rumoured to have a very bad temper.” Aurelia pointed out. “And rumour has it he doesn’t wear any underwear under his tunics and toga.”

“And I heard he has a marble statue of a former concubīna in his atrium” Publius added, before he paused and, after he looked at Cinna, who only raised an eyebrow, started laughing. “Wait: You?!”

“As I said, his eccentricity isn’t so bad – he is just a little bit odd. And yes: This statue displays me and it’s a beautiful piece of art.”

“That sounds different from your usual outburst he should throw the thing out”, Titus mumbled and got a warning look from his wife.

“Anyway”, Cinna said, loud enough to be heard over Publius and Aurelia’s sniggering “We need his help. There are not many companies providing such services who will accept an order for an unspecific amount of guests in an equally unspecific location for an open date in the next year.”

 _With a lot more, very unspecific wishes_ , Ufa thought, while the free people in the room found their equilibrium again and started to talk about the things which needed to be done first.

An hour later Ufa made notes on his tabula and nearly missed the sound of Publius snapping his fingers, but dutifully bent down to listen to his owner, his face as impassive as possible and his eyes glued to the floor before him, even if it wasn’t necessary. Nobody was looking at them - Aurelia and Cinna were discussing possible colours for flowers and Titus seemed to listen to their conversation.

“I’m sorry this hasn't worked out as I planned, Ufa.”

The slave breathed slowly out, knowing full well why his owner chose to apologize and risked a look into Publius face.

“It’s not my place to question your decisions, Dominus.”

Publius snorted in pure amusement. “No, it isn’t. But you were always loyal and all of this doesn’t mean I don’t trust you – if this would be the case, you wouldn’t be in the mess with me. Nor still at my side.”

Ufa swallowed and nodded.

“I know, Master. Just… don’t do it again?”

Publius eyed him and gave him a very unsettling smirk. “I can’t promise you this.”

Ufa sighed deeply and got back to taking notes. On times like these, he nearly wished to be owned by a simpler man. Nearly.

**Author's Note:**

> domus – townhouse
> 
> tabula - tablet
> 
> Iēntāculum – breakfast


End file.
